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wakelagger · 04-20-2004, 05:56 PM

For the second time since I bought the card in December, the fan has failed on my ATi Radeon 9600 Pro. Its been the same problem both times; the fan operates smoothly, until suddenly it begins to make a grinding noise. Gradually, this grinding noise gets to be worse and worse over the days.
The first time, mid-january ish, it got worse enough that the card could no longer be cooled enought to maintain operation and artifacting, restarts, and other errors began to plague the computer. This all occured from a Friday to a following Monday. I thought I'd continue running the card until the Monday when the ATi headquarters would open and I'd be able to return the card myself for warranty service/replacement.
It took only three days to get the replacement (new, not refurbished) back through Purolator, and they included an extended 5 year warranty (up from three years) for my troubles.
Alas, on last sunday, the grinding noises started again. I took out the case from the cabinet, took off the cover, and started prodding the fan. If its seated one way, it makes a gurgling, almost harley v-twin like sound. Kind of bad ass, except when you're trying to get your taxes finished on the before the government puts me on their naughty list. When poked again, it will then make a high-pitched whine resembling a microwave when heating. None the less, I'm dissapointed.
Upon returning the card this time to ATi's head office, they apologized, and when they asked if there was anything they could do, well, lets just say, a private preview of the X800 isn't within the power of the Service Manager. The Manager said that I was just a very unlucky man, and that fan failures are not a common occurance. Alas, I'm biting the bullet, and I'll be back to play Battlefield: Vietnam by Thursday.
This is unreasonable failure, yes, but what can you do? At least they aren't accusing me of causing the failure.

In conclusion, have you ever had continuously bad luck with a specific model of components despite the amazing track record and previous experience with a companies other products?

04-20-2004, 05:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
wakelagger Insane Location: Toronto	Fan Failure For the second time since I bought the card in December, the fan has failed on my ATi Radeon 9600 Pro. Its been the same problem both times; the fan operates smoothly, until suddenly it begins to make a grinding noise. Gradually, this grinding noise gets to be worse and worse over the days. The first time, mid-january ish, it got worse enough that the card could no longer be cooled enought to maintain operation and artifacting, restarts, and other errors began to plague the computer. This all occured from a Friday to a following Monday. I thought I'd continue running the card until the Monday when the ATi headquarters would open and I'd be able to return the card myself for warranty service/replacement. It took only three days to get the replacement (new, not refurbished) back through Purolator, and they included an extended 5 year warranty (up from three years) for my troubles. Alas, on last sunday, the grinding noises started again. I took out the case from the cabinet, took off the cover, and started prodding the fan. If its seated one way, it makes a gurgling, almost harley v-twin like sound. Kind of bad ass, except when you're trying to get your taxes finished on the before the government puts me on their naughty list. When poked again, it will then make a high-pitched whine resembling a microwave when heating. None the less, I'm dissapointed. Upon returning the card this time to ATi's head office, they apologized, and when they asked if there was anything they could do, well, lets just say, a private preview of the X800 isn't within the power of the Service Manager. The Manager said that I was just a very unlucky man, and that fan failures are not a common occurance. Alas, I'm biting the bullet, and I'll be back to play Battlefield: Vietnam by Thursday. This is unreasonable failure, yes, but what can you do? At least they aren't accusing me of causing the failure. In conclusion, have you ever had continuously bad luck with a specific model of components despite the amazing track record and previous experience with a companies other products?